TFIA Issue #3 - 4 Reasons TO put Audio-only episodes on YouTube.

TL;DR: If you’ve done the work to produce a super polished audio show, then you’re not putting up an inferior product to video on YouTube, just a different one. Audio on YouTube is NOT fake video, it's expanded accessibility.

4 Reasons TO put Audio-only episodes on YouTube:

  1. For Increased Accessibility. (Every day at my day job I sell TV's to folks from across the age and cultural spectrum, and the number of people that ask about running Wireless Headphones out of their TV's so they can easily listen to programs and shows continues to surprise me. YouTube is the app that gets the majority of mentions from Customers, and I think it's because a) the Customer themselves has mastered the YouTube interface and wants to stay there for everything, and b) the non-English versions of the YouTube app on the major TV-OS offerings are stable and navigable).

  2. To allow non-technical people to map listening progress seamlessly across multiple devices.

  3. To allow people (who Care) to comment, give a thumbs up, Subscribe to your show, and even support your show on-platform.

  4. To take advantage of the streamlined UX (User Experience) on YouTube. (There is no account required to get to the content, and the YouTube app doesn't hassle you every second day for your email address and for your preferred genres/tastes/interests before you get to LiSTNR .... sorry .... sorry, I meant listen).

The caveat I often hear about Audio-on-YouTube is the "extreme drop-off rate", which I believe is real, but I would posit that the drop-off rate for almost all content posted to YT (audio, video, amateur mime, everything that's NOT Cats) is "extreme".

The Short-long of it: If someone likes to Listen to shows, they don't really care how or where it happens, as long as it works and it's as simple as Click Link >>> Press Play.

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Email me your thoughts to josh@jcaldigital.org or DM me on LinkedIn or on Instagram (@joshuacliston).

TFIA Issue #2 - Slayers: A Buffyverse Story - Audio Storytelling That Gave Me Goosebumps

[ Audio-article recorded using the Rode Wireless Micro USB-C System ].

'The Future IS Audio' newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/slayers-buffyverse-story-audio-storytelling-gave-me-josh-liston-nzgvc/

Slayers: A Buffyverse Story - Audio Storytelling That Gave Me Goosebumps.

In 2023, Audible released an exclusive program called Slayers: A Buffyverse Story - an original Buffy the Vampire Slayer audio-drama, co-written and narrated by members of the original Buffy cast.

Now, I need to preface what I’m about to say by letting you know that Buffy The Vampire Slayer was my absolute favourite show growing up, and I consider the Buffy episode titled “The Body” as the best episode of television ever put to air. So yeah, I’m a little biased here.

When I first hit play on the Slayers audiobook and James Marster's voice (who portrayed Spike on Buffy and also on Angel) came through my headphones, I had goosebumps running down my arms and tears forming in my eyes. When I heard Charisma Carpenter’s voice later on in the production, I couldn’t help but smile; Cordelia was getting some of the spotlight her character deserved and perhaps didn’t get in the original Buffyverse shows.

It was Theatre-of-the-Mind at its most powerful.

I still watch Buffy on a regular basis and although I still enjoy it very much (it’s comfort-viewing for me at this point). I haven’t had a deep emotional response to anything Buffy related in over 20 years like I did to the Slayers audiobook.

It was just me, my headphones, and the human voice, and it was the most intense reaction I’ve had to a piece of art in many years. The last time I remember being completely blown away by a creative work was Season 1 of Ted Lasso, albeit in a very different way, but this was even more intense. Slayers taking several much-loved characters and rendering them in the most intimate of dramatic mediums (being audio) elicited a reaction that was beyond pure nostalgia, it was pure joy.

It’s not often that I find myself thinking, “I’m so grateful that this was made”, and Slayers made me feel that way. I clearly needed an original yet familiar story, told like it was told just for me, and the audio-drama format allowed for that revelatory experience to happen.

Slayers was my favourite Audiobook of the past several years, it was beautifully written, and the performances and production are as good as it gets. Check it out, and let me know your thoughts.

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PS. I put my initial reactions to Slayers back in 2023 on my Instagram profile @joshuacliston - but I thought I might include the audio from that video right here in this episode, so you can hear a life-long Buffy fan expressing their reaction to Slayers in-the-moment, and I’ll leave you with that today guys, speak to you again soon.

TFIA Issue #1 - 9 Reasons Headphones are the Key to a Professional Podcast Recording Session.

Originally Published on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-future-is-audio-7283949012901076992/

TLDR; Wear Headphones.

1. You’ll know if there’s a catastrophic noise being baked into the recording (electrical hum, static noise, buzzing sounds).

2. You won’t be off-mic half of the time. (You can hear when you’re in the sweet spot of your microphone, and when you’re not).

3. Increased awareness of Plosives (hard P’S and B’s), Mouth-noises (YUCK!), and Proximity Effect (overemphasised and potentially muddy bass in the voice).

4. Awareness of rubbing, zipping and scratching of clothing, jewellery, furniture, mic stand, and the microphone itself.

5. You can get more consistent levels between speakers on the recording, which can reduce post-production time and lessen the need for automated and potentially expensive levelling tools.

6. You can make choices about what environmental noises are actually making it into the recording. (You won’t waste time continually referencing things that are barely audible on the actual recording).

7. You’ll know if you’re baking-in destructive or bad sounding audio effects into the recording (overly aggressive noise-gates, reverb effects, or too much compression and/or bass and treble boost).

8. You’ll be able to hear everyone in the room that’s on a mic, not just the person closest to you by proximity (or simply the loudest person(s) in the room). This allows for quieter speakers to get heard, and get their turn … particularly when lots of cross-talk is occurring in the conversation, or speakers aren’t facing each other directly. Headphones create a level playing field for "being heard".

9. Producers can talk to you IRT yet discretely via your headphones without baking that conversation into the recording - if they have a talk-back function on their mixing or recording console.

If you need to talk Headphones, or Podcasting in general, feel free to send me an email (josh@jcaldigital.org) or DM me on X @joshuacliston or Instagram @joshuacliston

Have a great week, and happy Podcasting.